


good boy

by queenundisputed



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 08:46:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2018622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenundisputed/pseuds/queenundisputed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Killian suddenly has three and a half feet and a tail, Gold swears it was just an accident, David may or may not have decided to become a cat person, Neal is a very amused ghost, and Emma Swan swears up and down that her life was way less complicated before she came to Storybrooke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	good boy

Emma opens the door to Gold’s pawn shop with no little amount of trepidation. Really, she should have gone to Regina for magic advice, but Regina was currently sulking about in her house, refusing to talk to Emma on the basis that Emma had saved a woman’s life. Emma gets it, she does. Regina and Robin had a good thing going, and Robin’s late wife suddenly being back from the dead kind of puts a damper on that whole thing. Emma refuses to feel bad about it though because, hello, she saved a woman’s life. Far more important than Regina’s love life, and if Regina wants to sulk about it, that’s perfectly okay. Emma knows better than to poke her with a stick right now, and as long as Henry keeps going to see her, Emma figures Regina will, probably, get over it, right? Yeah, probably.

So her only magical option is Gold which sucks, an opinion her shadow agrees with if the way his body goes all tense behind her is any indication.

“You didn’t have to come you know,” Emma whispers behind her.

“And let you come alone, Swan? I think not,” Killian hisses back. Emma rolls her eyes. The fact is Killian has been following her around everywhere these days. Most of the time she doesn’t mind because now that kissing is on the table, it’s a good time. But even she has limits and pretty face or not, Killian Jones is starting to get on her nerves with his... _hovering_.

Besides, he is pretty much the worst backup to bring along when facing Gold. Even Henry would have been a better choice for this mission.

She strides toward the counter of the shop about to call out for Gold when the beaded curtain is pulled aside and Gold appears. He looks tense, his eyes narrowed at her, and he has color on his cheeks.

“Miss Swan,” he says from between clenched teeth.

Belle steps out from behind the beaded curtain as well, her hair slightly askew and a bit breathless. Emma stifles a laugh. She has clearly interrupted something.

“We’re closed right now,” Belle says, and her tone says ‘helpful’ while the slight narrowing of her eyes says ‘get out’ which is an interesting combination Emma has never seen on Belle’s face before now. Emma feels slightly apologetic in light of that.

“Yeah, sorry about barging in—” Emma begins, but Gold cuts her off.

“I’m sure you are, Miss Swan, and whatever you need, can wait,” he bites off the word wait and leaves it dangling dangerously in the air. Emma tilts her head to the side doing her best not to be intimidated because, really, she could probably take him. Theoretically. 

She hears the rustle of Killian’s coat behind her, and when he steps in front of her, she fights the urge to groan. This is so not going to end well.

“The lass just needs a moment of your time. Surely you can spare that, old man,” Killian says, placing his hook on the countertop with a loud, hollow thunk.

“I see you’ve brought your shadow with you today, Miss Swan,” Gold says, ignoring Killian’s words completely. “Don’t you get tired of him following you around like a love sick puppy all the time, dearie?”

There’s a certain glint to Gold’s eyes after he says that, as though he has just stumbled over the best idea ever, and Emma braces herself for whatever is about to hit them. Killian opens his mouth to say something more, but before he can get a word out, Gold waves a hand in his general direction.

Emma blinks once or twice trying to make sure what just happened actually happened. “What did you do?”

“Oh dear, it seems my hand...slipped. Complete accident. Did you see that, Belle?” Gold says, turning toward his wife.

Belle purses her lips, looks at Killian and Emma, and then back at her husband with a mischievous smile. She hadn’t been impressed with Killian’s lack of apology for shooting her, and it was time for a little harmless revenge.

“Yes, Rumpel, very tragic. You know, you have been looking a little peaked. Perhaps you have a fever?” She holds her hand to Gold’s forehead speculatively. “Oh yes, you are incredibly hot.”

“Could be magical fever,” Gold says, holding his hand to his heart as though wounded.

“Indeed it could,” Bella replies. “We should get you to bed immediately. Who knows what might happen if you stay on your feet any longer.”

Belle puts her arm around Gold’s shoulders and steers him toward the back of the shop.

“Hey, you’ve gotta fix Killian first,” Emma calls after the pair.

“No can do, dearie. Magical fever. Might accidentally kill him if I try. Best to just let it wait,” Gold says before disappearing behind the beaded curtain once more.

Emma puts her hands on her hips and looks down at her feet with a sigh.

“Now what are we supposed to do?”

Killian’s big blue eyes look up at her adoringly, and he whines plaintively, commiserating with the tone of her voice. His tail thumps against the floor, and his tongue lolls out of his mouth as she bends down to pat his head.

“Well, it could be worse, I guess,” Emma says, conversationally, “You could be a cat, and I’ve never been a cat person.”

Killian yips his excitement at that, and Emma stands with another long suffering sigh.

“Come on then,” she says to the chocolate Labrador sitting faithfully at her heels. “Let’s go home.”

\---

Emma opens the door, and lets Killian trot into the loft ahead of her. She tries to stop a small smile from forming, but it’s hard when Killian’s tail keeps wagging a mile a minute. She almost hadn’t gotten him back home at all. He had to stop to smell every new smell, to chase every little thing that rustled, and to greet everyone they met on the street which led to head pats that the lab had accepted very graciously. He was a very friendly and excitable dog.

Emma threw her coat onto the coat rack and closed the door. Turning around, she almost wished she hadn’t.

“Hey, Emma, check this out,” Neal says as he walks directly through the kitchen island and back.

“What the hell?” Emma asks, having no other appropriate reaction in her repertoire that covered the scenario where her ex returned as a ghost and appeared in her kitchen.

“Isn’t it cool, mom?” Henry asks, popping up from the sofa. “Oh hey, we got a dog!” Easily distracted, Henry rushes over to scratch behind Killian’s ears, and Killian pushes Henry to the floor and proceeds to lick his entire face in response.

Emma throws her hands in the air and then lets them drop to hang limply by her sides. “This really isn’t my day,” she says to no one in particular.

“But you’ve got a new dog, and that’s pretty awesome,” Neal replies, coming to hover next to her.

“Well, the dog is Killian,” Emma says, and Henry looks up at her, managing, at last, to push Killian off of him.

“Really? So we don’t get to keep him?” Henry mourns, pouting ever so slightly.

“Well, we get to keep him until we can convince Gold to turn him back into a person again,” Emma says.

“Dad did this?” Neal asks.

“Yeah,” Emma says, reaching out to stroke Killian’s head as he returns to her side.

Neal’s face twists, and Emma can tell that he’s trying not to laugh. “Well, good then,” he says, coughing to cover his amusement.

“How is this, by any definition, good?” Emma asks, narrowing her eyes at Neal.

Neal cranes his neck, looking around her and down at Killian who has stopped wagging his tail for the first time since he’d been turned into a dog.

“Maybe it’s karma. You know, for running off with my mom and then betraying me to Peter Pan,” Neal says, glaring at Killian who can tell he’s in trouble from Neal’s tone and promptly places his front paw and stump over his nose.

“I’m still angry about that, you know,” Neal says. “And besides, it’s not like he’s in any danger, right? He’s just a dog, and hey, it could be worse. He could be a cat.”

Emma nods. “That’s true. Hey, wait a second; did you say he ran off with your mom?”

Neal looks at her for a moment. “Yeah, Milah.”

“Milah was your mom?” Emma’s mouth is hanging open; she knows it’s kind of an unattractive look on her, but this is one of those moments where the bombshells are worth it.

“You didn’t know?” Neal asks, and Emma shakes her head. She looks down at Killian who is still hiding his face under his front legs, and she thinks for all of a second before throwing her arms up in the air again.

“You know what, I don’t care. This town is full of screwed up familial relationships, what’s one more?”

Neal nods at her, wisely, and Henry inches over to Killian, trying to coax him back out of hiding with the promise of a tummy rub. Neal watches them for a moment, and then gives Killian a speculative look. He turns to Emma and says, “Do you think he’d fetch?”

Emma rolls her eyes. Her life had been much less complicated before she came to Storybrooke.

\---

Emma is sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee in her hands and Killian’s head resting in her lap. She takes a sip and then scratches behind Killian’s ears, enjoying the early morning silence and the easy comfort of relaxing with her dog.

The peace is broken too soon for Emma’s liking. Someone is awake, and Killian’s ears perk up at about the same time Emma hears a commotion from somewhere around the hall closet.

“That’s it! Emma, I’m sorry but the dog has got to go!” David yells, stalking into the living room with a livid expression on his face and a shoe clasped in his fist. Emma looks at David’s face, the shoe, and then at Killian who is still laying peacefully in her lap, acting for all the world unconcerned about the ire directed at him.

“What did he do now?” She asks, but considering David is holding a shoe, Emma can already guess.

“This is the third pair of shoes that mutt has ruined, Emma. The _third_ pair!”

Emma pats Killian’s stomach and pushes him off her as she stands. She takes her coffee cup to the kitchen with Killian at her heels. Having placed the cup in the sink, she turns back to David with a grin.

“And what do you want me to do with him if not let him stay here?”

“Take him to the pound for all I care; he just can’t stay here if he’s going to keep ruining my shoes, Emma. They aren’t chew toys,” David says, throwing the chewed shoe to the floor in front of Killian’s nose. Killian’s tail starts wagging, and his little doggy face looks overjoyed as he flops to the floor on his belly and takes the shoe into his mouth, gnawing on it with pleasure.

David lets out a strangled noise, and Emma knows David is a good man, that he usually does the right thing; except the way he’s looking at her dog right now makes Emma wonder if maybe she shouldn’t get Killian out of kicking range sometime in the next second or two.

“Come on, Killian,” she says, “time to go for your walk.”

Killian perks up instantly, and he leaves the saliva covered shoe on the kitchen floor as he follows her over to the door.

“I’m not taking him to the pound, David. He’s a dog; he likes to chew on things. If you’re worried about your shoes, we’ll move them, okay?” Emma says as she pulls out the leash and collar she’d hastily chosen at the pet shop when she’s rushed in to get dog food the day Killian had been turned. 

David grumbles under his breath as Emma puts the collar and leash on a wiggling Killian. Emma turns around once they are in place, smiling at David.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you weren’t a dog person,” she says, grabbing her coat.

David glares at Killian for a moment. “No, it’s just _this_ dog that I seem to have a problem with.”

“Uh huh,” Emma says, with a knowing look. “I’ll buy you a new pair of shoes to make up for it, okay?”

David sighs and rubs at his face with his hands. “You don’t have to do that, Emma. It’s not your fault.”

Emma feels Killian pulling at his lead, and she opens the door a notch to placate him. She is unsurprised when that only makes him strain harder against the leash.

“Fine. When he’s back to normal, Killian will buy you a new pair to make up for it,” she calls out as Killian drags her out the door. She hears David’s laughter drift out the door as her dog pulls her down the hall.

\---

Neal hovers silently next to her, clenching and unclenching his hands because he can’t touch her, and if he can’t do that, he doesn’t really know what to do.

‘”It was my fault,” he says suddenly.

Emma shakes her head. “When have you ever owned a dog? How were you supposed to know?”

“Yeah, but if I had been watching then I would have known what it was, and maybe he wouldn’t be so bad off. I’m sorry,” he turns to her as he says it, and he reaches for her hand. She shudders a little bit as his hand passes through hers, and she smiles even if it is a bit watery.

“He’ll be okay,” she whispers, and Neal nods.

“I hope so.”

They lapse back into silence, and Emma looks around her nervously. Doctors’ offices are always kind of creepy, and there doesn’t seem to be any exception for vets. It smells a little funny in the small waiting room, and a little old lady Emma has never met sits on the far side, cooing quietly to whatever she’s keeping in the carrier on her lap. The woman looks up and winks at Emma, and Emma turns away, startled.

“I think she thinks we’re all part of some secret ‘we love our pets’ club,” Neal whispers in her ear, cold, ghostly breath stirring her hair.

“Yeah, well, that’s weird,” Emma whispers back and then rises out of her chair like a shot when the vet’s door opens. The aide that walks out smiles at Emma and beckons her over to the front desk.

“Your dog is going to be fine, Miss Swan. He just needs to purge the poison from his system, and he’ll be back to playing fetch in no time. We just want to keep him over night to cover our bases. You can pick him up in the morning,” the aide says, sitting at the computer and pulling up Emma’s information on her computer screen.

She says something about the bill, but Emma’s ears are filled with the rushing sound of relief. Killian’s going to be fine.

“Can I see him before we go?” Emma asks, interrupting whatever conversation Neal was having with the aide who seemed to find his ghostly appearance perfectly normal.

“Of course you can, Miss Swan. I’m sure Killian would appreciate seeing his mom,” the aide said, getting up out of her chair and waving Emma behind the desk and through an open door.

There are a lot of medical supplies in the back, but further down, Emma sees cages and her heart seizes up.

“You’re going to keep him in one of those?” Emma asks with a frown.

The aide nods, a cheerful smile plastered on her face. “Killian needs his rest right now so that he can get better. He needs a nice, warm, quiet place to sleep without anyone bothering him or any distractions.”

Emma balks at the insinuation that she would bother or distract Killian. He’s her pirate, and right now, he’s her dog. She would take care of him!

“Don’t worry, Miss Swan. It’s for the best,” the aide says, pointing Emma to a cage at the end of the row. Emma bends down, and Killian raises his head weakly to regard her with droopy blue eyes. He woofs quietly, just barely an exhalation of air, and she can see him struggle to stand, to make his way over to her.

“Hey, no, don’t do that,” she says, sticking her fingers through the bars to touch the tip of his nose. “Just lie down and get some rest. Get better.”

Killian whines at her, head falling back down. Emma bites her lip. He just looks so sad and pathetic, and Emma feels responsible. He’s a dog right now. He doesn’t know what not to stick his nose into, and she should have been taking better care of him.

“I’m sorry, Killian,” she says. He just blinks at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Be a good boy for the vet, okay?”

She pulls away from the cage reluctantly, and she hears him whine again. She’s tempted to tell the vet’s aide to give her back her dog immediately, but she thinks better of it. She’ll pick him up tomorrow, and he’ll be better. And then she’ll take him for a run on the beach, play fetch with him, and then buy him dog treats at the store. With that plan firmly cemented in her mind, she smiles feebly at the aide and allows herself to be steered back out into the waiting room.

\---

Killian jumps onto the bed and cuddles up next to her, panting in her face. Emma scrunches up her nose and puts her hand in face to push it away.

“Ugh, dog breath,” Emma says with a little laugh. Killian barks happily back at her and turns over onto his stomach, inviting her to rub it. Emma rolls her eyes but obliges.

She looks into his puppy dog eyes and sighs. “You know, you’re trouble.”

Killian tilts his head and licks her face.

“Yeah, yeah, really cute,” she says, and then she reaches up to turn off the lamp. “Time for bed now.”

She tosses and turns until she finds a comfortable position, contorting herself around Killian’s legs which are everywhere. She really didn’t want him sleeping in her bed at first, but he howled and cried all night if he was forced to sleep anywhere else. Even Henry had been in favour of letting Killian stay in her room if only to get a good night’s rest for the first time in three days. And then it had just become habit. Gold, still insisting he was down with “magical fever”, was still refusing to change Killian back even a month later; so Killian and his dog breath was becoming a regular feature in her bed.

She didn’t mind. Much.

Except for when it was the middle of the night and his kicking around in his sleep was behind waking her up, bleary eyed and grumpy. She looks over at him, preparing to scold him, but she comes face to face with a very human, very naked Killian Jones.

“You...aren’t a dog anymore,” she says.

“Very observant, Swan,” Killian says.

“And you are naked. In my bed,” she continues, her brain just a little slow on the uptake for several very good reasons.

He smirks at her. “You don’t say.”

“And you’re not a dog anymore,” she says, at a loss.

“We’ve established that already, love,” he says, reaching out to push her hair out of her face. She catches his hand, stops it in its tracks.

“Why aren’t you a dog anymore?”

“No idea, Swan, but I think,” he says, rolling over top of her, and staring down at her with a grin curling the corners of his mouth, “we should take advantage of the situation, don’t you agree?”

Emma narrows her eyes at him, pushing at his chest with both her hands. “I’m not really into bestiality, Killian.”

“Such a shame, love. The things this beast could do to you,” he says the last part in a low voice, his lips right above hers.

“Tempting, but no. I need some time to get over the loss of my dog,” she says, smirking when he pulls back, flabbergasted at her refusal.

“I am your dog, Swan,” he protests.

“Not anymore you aren’t,” she says. “And I liked my dog.”

He lets out a frustrated growl, and Emma can’t help but laugh.

“You, Swan, are a tease,” Killian says, but he stays hovering over top of her, looking at her with assessing eyes.

“Oh my god, some things just can’t be unseen,” a new voice says, and Emma turns her head to see Neal hovering right by the wall he’s passed through to get into her bedroom. She frowns at him, and he shakes his head rapidly. “Didn’t mean to interrupt anything. I just wanted to see if Dad held up his end of the deal. Looks like he has. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go try and bleach my eyeballs, okay? Later.”

Emma looks back at Killian who is trying rather valiantly not to smirk, and Emma bursts out laughing.

When they both finally quiet back down, Emma pushes at his chest again, and Killian obligingly rolls over and onto his back.

“Good boy,” Emma says, still not quite over the whole dog thing.

Killian pokes her side with his hook, and Emma swats at him with her hand. “You’re going to pay for that, Swan,” Killian says, but he stays still.

Emma yawns, pulls the blankets up so Killian can snuggle under, and she closes her eyes. “We’ll get you some of David’s clothes in the morning,” she mumbles.

Killian sighs by way of reply, and he cuddles closer to her. Emma lets him, and she finds that he’s just as intrusive with two legs as he was with four as he winds his arm around her and tangles their legs together in an attempt to get comfortable.

She doesn’t really mind. Much.

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking last night that I write a lot of drama and angst. Clearly this needed to be rectified with something a bit more lighthearted. This idea promptly took up residence in my brain and begged to be written. It is shamelessly silly, and I do not apologize for it. Hopefully you got a laugh or two out of it as well. 
> 
> Thank you, as always, to my beta, Shannen, who looked over this despite being less than impressed with my impassioned description of what the fic was about; "maybe it'll be better once you've written it", indeed.


End file.
